Dwight Evans Questions Witnesses About The ‘Complex’ Nature Of Post-Acute Care

yesterday

During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing held before the congressional recess, Rep. Dwight Evans (D-PA) questioned witnesses about post-acute care costs.

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Transcript

00:00Mr. Evans, you're recognized. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Carson, post-acute care is

00:10very expensive in all of its forms. Those who receive it often have even more

00:17complex cases. Can you speak to that issue? I'm sorry, could you repeat the

00:25question, please, sir? Post-acute care is very expensive in all its forms. Those

00:32who receive it, it often has even more complex care. You speak to that? Thank

00:40you. Yeah, there is a great deal of complexity and Medicaid is an important

00:47provision that allows people to get to where they where they need to be. There's

00:54been discussion here about levels of care in different parts of the

00:59health care system for low-income folks or people who spend down to Medicaid

01:06eligibility levels. Medicaid is essential for providing the care that is

01:13needed, whether it be in a nursing facility or whatever level. It could

01:18be a more intensive type of care, the kind of care that's been referenced here,

01:23and it can also be the type of long-term assistance at home, for example, that

01:29individuals might need on an ongoing basis. Medicaid, working along with

01:35Medicare for many people, allows the basis to be covered, as it were,

01:43so the individual can get the medical care, the physician care, for example, or

01:49the hospital care that he or she needs, but also the the long-term care that

01:53might be necessary as well. Can you please elaborate further in how much

02:00even those enrolled in Medicare often still rely on Medicaid to meet their

02:07needs while in post-procurement needs? Thank you. As mentioned earlier, that

02:15the people who receive Medicaid-funded long-term care are 60%

02:23Medicare beneficiaries, so the programs are, in a practical matter for those

02:28people, the programs are set up to work together. It was mentioned,

02:35oftentimes when people approach Medicare eligibility, they just assume, well, no, I'm

02:40covered. I'm 65. Medicare will cover me, but that's not true. It was mentioned

02:46with some of the other witnesses, even that Medicare won't cover a nursing

02:50facility care unless you have a qualifying three-day stay in a hospital.

02:55There are various provisions like that that limit the ability of the Medicare

03:00program to meet the needs of real people, and specifically the post-acute, the topic

03:08of our conversation here today, in long-term service and supports, Medicaid

03:14is essential to fill that role because Medicare will not, and for older people

03:21and for other adults with disabilities, Medicaid is essential because it's

03:29the only program for those folks who are unable to pay privately that allows them

03:35to cover the long-term service and supports items that they need to

03:41live a full life. Mr. Chairman, I'd like to thank you.

Dwight Evans Questions Witnesses About The ‘Complex’ Nature Of Post-Acute Care

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